One Drunken Night
by moodiful819
Summary: When Naruto wakes up after a dinner with the Kazekage naked in bed with his sister and no recollection of the previous night, it is up to him to figure out what happened. And why does his butt hurt? NaruGaa. ShikaTem. Future limes?


**A/N: This story is dedicated to two people. One is my absolutely wonderful penpal ****Megii of Mysteri OusStranger****, author of ****Demon Prince of Konoha**** and one of the coolest people ever. **_**EVER**_**. The other person is my real-life friend Natasha who besides being an unbelievably good artist, I've recently found out is a yaoi-fangirl and somehow, by sharing that fact, has unleashed a slew of yaoi-pairing fangirling from me. (I am just as confused as to how that worked as you are.)**

**It's my first full-yaoi story (I've written a few oneshots) and I don't usually write anything with Naruto or Gaara as main characters, so I'm a bit nervous. If you see any OOC, tell me because it'd really help. Reviews are love and to the people I'm writing this for, I am expecting reviews. (You know, since I'm doing this because I love you both so much.)**

_Full Summary: _After going to Suna for an embassy meeting with Shikamaru, Naruto wakes up naked in bed with Temari and a wedding ring on his finger. Unable to remember anything from the previous night, Naruto must figure out what happened to him and hope it isn't anything too big. And why does his butt hurt?

Key: "Talking"  
'_Thinking'  
__Flashbacks if there are any_

* * *

**One Drunken Night  
**by _moodiful819  
._

_.  
_Chapter 1

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.

.

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Now?"

"No."

"Now?"

"No, Naruto."

"How about—"

Naruto suddenly found himself with a mouthful of sand. Quickly getting up and spitting, he turned to his travelling companion. "What'd you do that for?"

Shikamaru sighed, shifting into a lazy standing pose as he stared down at the fallen blonde from a higher dune. "I didn't do anything. I warned you before to pay attention to where you're going."

Naruto scowled and glared at the shadow-user. "You know, you could stand to be a little more worried. I mean, I am your Hokage."

Shikamaru nodded to himself. Yes, the blonde was his Hokage. He had been just as surprised as the rest of the village when the decision was made, but at the same time he wasn't. After all, you don't harp about being Hokage throughout your entire childhood without being able to back it up somehow, and he'd shown on multiple occasions his loyalty to the village (he'd saved it after all). Not only that, he'd shown just how capable he was as a shinobi. He lived for his village and would die for it like any other ninja from the Leaf, but there was something about Naruto that made that different. You believed him when he said he was going to do something and he genuinely cared about the place he came from and the people in it. Looking back, maybe it was inevitable.

Still…

"Troublesome. Just because I'm your guide doesn't mean I have to babysit you."

In response, Naruto grumbled under his breath wondering why he'd chosen Shikamaru to be his guide. He was headed to Suna for a conference. They were going to discuss renewing the treaty between their two villages. While he'd been to treaty meetings before, they had been with smaller nations and it was Tsunade who had negotiated them; he'd just been watching. Now, it was he who was going to be negotiating the terms with no Tsunade to guide him since the woman was retired somewhere in the North, and though the Kazekage was a good friend, Naruto still couldn't help but feel a touch nervous. The feeling of responsibility was starting to weigh down on him and the sweat on his skin wasn't just from the desert heat.

As if sensing his distress, Shikamaru came back down the dune and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Troublesome. Quit worrying. You'll be fine," he told him and Naruto could've laughed in his face, but settled for a quiet snicker. Only Shikamaru could say something that comforting and look like somewhere between bored and having a root canal.

Shikamaru looked at him quizzically and Naruto waved it off, telling his guide he was fine. Maybe this was why he asked Shikamaru to be his escort on this trip. Besides his knowledge of the region and its customs, Shikamaru could be quite supportive to his friends.

'_Though he probably just wants to see his girlfriend.'_ Shikamaru had been quite eager to go since he volunteered to go, after all. He hadn't even needed to be asked.

Still snickering quietly to himself, Naruto began pulling himself through the desert. With Shikamaru's reassurance, Naruto felt his confidence filling up again. He could do this. Gaara was a good friend and they could undoubtedly come to a reasonable agreement that would benefit their two villages. He could do this. After all, Tsunade-baa-chan wouldn't have nominated him for Hokage if she didn't think he was ready.

"Alright! I can do this!" he shouted.

Resolutely, he began moving up the sandy hill only to feel sand flood his sandal and his leg become swallowed by the ground. Gravity pitching, he realized he was falling.

Feeling a hand catch him, he followed the limb back to its owner who sighed in annoyance. "Thanks," said Naruto.

Shikamaru nodded wordlessly, and pulling him out of the sand and helping him to a place where he was sure their village's leader wasn't in a position to die from being swallowed by the sand, pinched the bridge of his nose.

"This trip is going to be troublesome, I just know it," he mumbled under his breath.

Little did he know how accurate that statement would prove to be.

* * *

Five hours of wading through sand and heat, the duo reached the familiar canyon guarding Sunagakure. Walking into the shadow of the imposing cliff faces, the sheer walls of rock staring down at them, Naruto collapsed in the sand in relief.

"We're finally here!" he said with all the passion of a man having found water after having gone days without it. Shikamaru merely sent a questioning look at the boy, but didn't say a word as he conversed with one of the guards stationed outside the village gates and showed him their papers. A voice called out to him from under the stone archway of the gates.

"You're late." Turning his head, Shikamaru saw the familiar figure of Temari, her arms crossed over her chest with an annoyed frown on her lips. "Do you realize how long I was waiting for you two to arrive?"

Shikamaru frowned. "Troublesome. Naruto over there kept tripping in the sand."

"Did you show him the trick I showed you so you won't sink in the sand?"

"Yeah. He kept falling anyway. Troublesome," Shikamaru sighed scratching the back of his head. Temari nodded in understanding. In her limited experience with the boy, he did seem like the type to keep tripping in the sand. It wasn't anything to be ashamed of. Walking in the sand took a while to get used to; Shikamaru had the same trouble when they began their trips as delegates to the each other's village. Oh, the amount of sand he ate during those first few days had been hilarious.

"You were remembering my first few days walking in the sand, weren't you?"

Temari smiled cheekily in response to his disapproving stare. "Yeah, I was."

Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome," he muttered, only to feel arms wrap around his neck.

"You know, I was all prepared for a gushy welcome from you and here you're griping about me being troublesome. You really have some nerve," she grumbled into his chest. Through his vest, he could feel her pouting and let himself smile a bit. Placing a hand in the small of her back, he leaned down to rest his chin on her head.

"Sorry. It's just…travelling with Naruto. It's a drag," he commented idly while smiling warmly at her. She laughed against his chest and looked up at him with a smile.

"Um…you know, I'm right here," Naruto reminded them, whether to address the insult or to interrupt their lovey-dovey scene. In any event, it worked because Shikamaru and Temari were soon two feet apart as they tried to fix their appearance as if they had never been touching.

Smoothing the fabric of her skirt, she soon looked up at him with her tomboyish grin. "Well, better bring you in. Gaara is probably wondering where we are. No doubt Kankuro is throwing a fit," she said muttering the last part under her breath. Waving them to follow, they entered the canyon leading into the village.

The village, like the rocks it was surrounded by, hadn't changed much with time. The stone buildings towered over them, their familiar orb shapes bubbling into the sky. The arch ways and bridges broke the picturesque sky above them, and around them, people stopped to say hello.

"You'll be staying in the Kazekage's Tower. Sleeping arrangements have already been made for your stay," Temari explained as she guided them through the streets, waving back at the people greeting her. "You'll have your own room, Naruto. All the rooms are on the same floor. Today, you'll just be resting and get shown around since you just finished travelling. Tomorrow, you'll have a dinner in your honor officially welcoming you to the village. I'd advise you to have as much fun as you can there because after that, you're going to be stuck with the council negotiating the treaty. Kami, those geezers can bitch."

Walking down a few narrow alleys, they soon reached the center of town. "Here we are," she announced. On the steps leading to the entrance, two figures were already waiting for them.

"Temari, what took you so long? We were worried!"

Temari sent a scathing look at the speaker. "No, only you were worried, Kankuro," she retorted before turning to smile at her other brother. "Hi Gaara."

The redhead merely nodded. As Kankuro continued to argue that 'no, he was not being a stupid sissy,' as Temari put it, Naruto took this time to see what else had changed in Suna. It'd been four years since they'd last seen each other and it seemed every time he saw Gaara, the sand siblings went through some sort of wardrobe change.

Temari had changed to a short lilac skirt similar to what she wore when he first met her, but Shikamaru had mentioned earlier that when she wasn't actively fighting, Temari tended to wear more casual clothing. From the photos Shikamaru had shown him, she usually wore an ensemble that seemed a mix of her genin clothes and the black kimono she wore when he came back to Konoha over some fishnets (why Shikamaru carried so many pictures of Temari and her various clothes in his wallet, Naruto didn't know. And he didn't want to know either).

Kankuro seemed to continue his trend of wearing black. Though the style of his hat seemed to have changed, as well as how he did his face paint, his clothes were still baggy, if not a bit more traditional. As for Gaara, Naruto couldn't tell. Like him, the red-head was in the traditional Kage robes which they would have to wear throughout this entire affair.

Turning his gaze from his siblings' squabbling, he turned to his guests. "Shikamaru-san. Naruto. Welcome," he greeted tonelessly. With his ice-jade eyes staring down at them, combined with the imposing height the flight of stairs offered him, many would've been intimidated by Gaara. But Naruto wasn't like most people and instead, he grinned ear-to-ear.

"Hey Gaara!"

The stoic man nodded in reply and headed back inside, beckoning them to follow with the motioning of his head. The two Konoha nin followed wordlessly, quickly climbing up the steps to maintain a position two steps behind Gaara with his two siblings flanking them on either side.

Walking through the halls of the tower, Naruto glanced around at the walls. There were paintings of the surrounding landscape and native foliage on the walls, doors interrupting the streams of tanned beige every now and then. If Naruto didn't know any better, he would've sworn he'd walked into the lobby of the hospital or an office building. A hand clapped him on the shoulder.

"Temari told me you were a bit nervous. Don't be, Naruto. You'll be fine!" Kankuro reassured boisterously. Naruto chuckled nervously and tried to match the puppet-user's confident grin.

"Yeah…" he said unenthused, but Kankuro didn't seem to notice. Suddenly, Gaara stopped.

"We're here," Gaara announced, stepping away from the mouth of the stairwell to allow Naruto to look around. They were standing in the middle of a large hallway. A blue oriental rug covered the stone hallway, stretching out on either side of them, and to their right stood a potted plant next to a large window which served as the only natural light source.

"Down there on the left is the Kazekage office, as well as the rooms of me and Temari," he said pointing down the darkened hallway on their left before motioning to the opposite hallway with the window. "Your rooms will be in that hall. Naruto, your room will be at the end of the hall on the right. Shikamaru-san, your room will be across from his, next to my brother's. Each room has its own private bathroom. We'll be dining in the dining hall which is past the Kazekage office—Temari will show you later."

He turned to face the two. "Today is your day to rest and explore the building and the village. Temari and my brother will be your guide. I would show you, but I still have some documents I have to look over in preparation for the treaty renewal. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to knock on my door."

And with a quiet nod of farewell, Gaara turned and headed down the darkened hallway, the ends of his white robe swishing with a subdued drama behind him.

"Hmm. Well, looks like we're on our own, eh Shika…ma…ru?" Naruto looked around, finding himself the only person still in the hallway. No doubt Shikamaru ran off with his girlfriend. As for Kankuro, he was probably busy with dinner preparations. Though it didn't seem like it, Kankuro was the person who kept the Kazekage Tower running. Actually, the puppet-user could be thought of as Gaara's unofficial secretary…or at least, that's what Temari had told Shikamaru.

Realizing there was nothing he could do at the moment, he decided to go to his room. After trekking through the desert for so long, a shower sounded like a nice idea.

And with that thought, he headed towards his room.

* * *

"Ah, that was great!" Naruto sighed as he exited the bathroom, rubbing a towel over his head. He had taken his shower and smiled at the fact he no longer felt sticky (or had sand in questionable places).

Walking over to his bed, he collapsed with a sigh as he felt the softness pillow around his body. Despite the small door, his room was actually quite large and spacious. The bed was four-poster. Underneath it was a large oriental rug. An armoire stood across from the bed and to the left was the bathroom he exited from. On the right, near the nightstand, was the large glass window. It was a surprisingly western-style room since he'd heard that Sand was a very traditional village, but then again, Shikamaru had told him that while the bedrooms were more modern, other rooms were less so.

Sliding off the bed, he went to the window. Though he'd been on missions to Suna, he'd never been in Suna long enough to appreciate it. Staring out the window, he cracked it open, closing his eyes to the sudden gust that burst past him. Once it died down, he stuck his head out and smiled down over the village-scape that met his eyes. Though not as colorful as his Konoha, there were the same signs of life ranging from the flags and overhangs fluttering in the wind, to the people milling about in the streets below. Smiling, he breathed in the air that carried a hint of the desert on it. Despite Konoha's misgivings of Suna's village, there was a certain charm to it and the desert it lived in.

Staring down, he realized it wasn't enough. He wanted to go into the streets. After all, this treaty wouldn't affect just Gaara and him. It'd affect both their villages, and he wanted to meet the people he would be partly responsible for.

Quickly getting dressed in a T-shirt and some pants (all light-weight material like Shikamaru had told him to pack), he stared down at the object he had grabbed in his haste. It was his hitai-ate and looking down at it, he wondered if he should wear it. Though he was no longer an active ninja, he had opted to keep it, but he wondered if he should wear it. His rank as Hokage placed him higher than the usual shinobi and if he wore it, he would be dishonoring the title. However, this hitai-ate would show he was the same as them. He didn't want the people deferring to him like the lords he'd guarded in the past. He wanted the people to be able to come up to him and tell him what they honestly thought. Not only that, this hitai-ate carried a lot of memories for him.

He ran his fingers over the fabric covering the back of the metal plate reminiscently. This was the hitai-ate he had worn at his homecoming. The one he wore as a genin, he had lost on a mission. Even if he had kept it, it would've been too small to wear, but though it had its own memories, the one he held in his hands held more. This was the one he wore when he arrived in Konoha after three years away; he wore it when he faced Sasuke; he wore it when he learned Jiraiya was dead; he wore this when he faced Pein. It held a lot of memories for him. Though the fabric had to be replaced several times, the metal plate was the same; and while he certainly had other hitai-ate, this one was the one he treasured most.

His mind made up, he placed the metal plate in his hand and slowly, fitted it against his forehead, tying it to him with a firm tug of the knot.

'_Now to go find someone to show me around.'_

However, once he was in the hallway, this was proving easier said than done. Shikamaru was still missing (probably in Temari's room, so Temari was out of the question too), and when he knocked on Kankurou's door, no one answered. Both of his assigned guides were busy and he didn't want to bother the people working in the tower (not that he could find any of them on this floor), which left one option…

"Gaara?" he asked tentatively, knocking on the door. A muffled response told him to come in.

Looking up from his stack of papers, Gaara blinked in surprise. "Naruto. Is something the matter?" he asked. For the briefest of seconds, Naruto could've sworn he heard concern in the boy's stoic tone.

"I was wondering if you could show me around the village." Realizing what he just said, Naruto quickly raised his hands in a placating manner. "I know you're busy! And I'm probably bothering you and I wouldn't be doing this normally, but your sister and brother are both busy and I don't know if I'll ever be able to get a hold of them. If you can, great! But if you can't, I'll understand!"

His rambling over, Naruto closed his eyes as he awaited Gaara's decision. If he said yes, they'd go explore the village. If he said no, well…Naruto supposed he could go explore the village on his own (or wait until Shikamaru or Temari left the room. They couldn't be stuck in there forever, could they?)

Hearing the silence, Naruto hesitantly opened his eyes, arms already shielding his head from possible assault (after years of being friends with Sakura, such reflexes were the difference between walking away and waking up in a hospital bed), only to find Gaara staring at him with a slightly stunned expression. Obviously, he hadn't been expecting to escort Naruto, or being faced with a brace position.

"Alright," he said at last.

"Come again?" Naruto asked lowering his arms, now deeming it safe to.

"I have agreed to escort you. These papers can be finished later, and I'd rather not be rude to my guests." Taking the stack of papers he'd just been working on, he piled them in his hands and neatly stacked them on his desk. "We'll go as soon as you find a jacket. The sand will be like bullets if you don't."

* * *

"You know, you're really popular, Gaara," Naruto commented as he watched yet another child scamper away from the Kazekage after giving him a gift. If he remembered correctly, that was the fifth kid since they started their walk.

Gaara, stowing away the offering of candy given to him with the help of his gourd, seemed unfazed by the comment. "I'd be a bad leader if I wasn't," he replied waving to the citizens who greeted him.

A gust picked up before Naruto could speak further, sand and wind kicking up and ripping through the streets, causing the overhangs to flap violently as children and adults alike raised their sleeves against the zephyr. Naruto was thankful not for the first time that afternoon for Gaara's warning. Though he felt the sand pelt his light jacket, it was considerably less painful and annoying than if it had hit his bare skin. His face felt like he'd scraped it on concrete and it was hard for him to see. Gaara, on the other hand, stared down the storm like an immovable statue.

The wind quickly died down, and the streets instantly returned to normal as if there had never been a sandstorm. Coughing into his elbow, Naruto blinked away the dryness in his eyes. "How does that not bother you?" he asked.

"My ability over sand allows me to manipulate it so the sand particles are deflected away from me. I almost never have to worry," he calmly replied as they continued walking through the streets. So far, Gaara had taken him around half of the village. Starting from the center, they headed to the southern end to view the Academy before heading east towards the industrial section. After stopping for a snack for Naruto (of all the times for his stomach to growl), they headed to the western side for the marketplace where Gaara told him it was open to all traders and that they were one of the largest trading posts in the country.

Besides being impressed by Sunagakure's extensive trading and fighting history, Naruto was also impressed by Gaara's skills as a leader. Along the way, they had been frequently stopped by villagers hoping to share something with their Kazekage. The civilians would stop and say hi, often offering fruit or a trinket of some kind, while the shinobi would stop and ask about mission opportunities and help in running a certain department. From looking at their faces, it was clear to Naruto that Gaara's people obviously respected him and trusted him completely. They obviously loved him and it was clear that Gaara cared very much for his people, stopping for each person who approached him and greeting all who greeted him. He seemed so confident, so sure of what he was doing and the decisions he was making, that to be honest, Naruto was a little jealous. He had been Hokage for two months now and while he had been doing an adequate job, he acutely felt the weight of responsibility bearing down on him. He had never been responsible for an entire village before and the fear of failure preyed on him constantly. He envied Gaara's ability to lead and the assuredness with which he lead because it showed the disparity between them. Suddenly, Naruto was less sure of himself than ever.

"Is something wrong, Naruto?"

Naruto looked up to see Gaara ahead of him in the street. He hadn't even realized he'd slowed down or stopped, let alone in the middle of a busy marketplace street. Spotting the minute pricks of concern in Gaara's face that continued to grow by the minute, Naruto quickly caught himself.

"I'm fine," he said quickly catching up and allowing Gaara to lead him. They passed out of the main market area, the crowd thinning out around them before Gaara spoke.

"Are you sure you are fine? You don't look it. Maybe we should go back?" By now, they had entered the housing section of Suna, small children running to greet Gaara while from windows and doorways, parents and grandparents watched with a warm eye.

"I'm fine." At Gaara's semi-dubious look, Naruto sighed. "I'm fine. Really! It's just…you know how I'm the Hokage now, right?"

"We would not be speaking right now if you weren't," Gaara pointed out.

"Right. So I've been Hokage for a while now and it's great, and I love it and I love Konoha—maybe even more than before!—but…"

At Naruto's trailing off, Gaara looked at him from the corner of his eye.

"It's just, the pressure is killing me! I'm responsible for so much now, and it's so much harder, even with the training I got from Tsunade-Baa-chan. I keep thinking I'm going to mess up. It's always question after question of 'What should we do?', 'Where should we put this building?', or 'We are over-budget in this sector. How should we fix it?', and I don't know what to say! I'm afraid to say anything because what if I'm wrong? What if I say the wrong thing and doom a bunch of people because of my stupid mistake. I act as if I know what I'm doing, but I have no clue while you on the other hand, you…you look like you have everything under control. It just—I just…I don't know. I'm just jealous, that's all."

Naruto shrugged uncomfortably in his jacket, thankful that the children around him seemed too preoccupied to care about what he said. Gaara, however, heard every word, and quietly dismissed them to talk with his friend.

"Naruto, just like you, I have no clue what I'm doing either."

At his admission, Naruto turned and gawked. "What? But you—!"

"Look like I know what I'm doing? You know as well as I do that my facial expression rarely changes. And as for my leadership skills, they are much shakier than they appear. Though I act like I know what I'm doing, and my advisors are always ready to help me, I am really grasping at straws," he confessed, watching as the last child returned to her parents. "However, though I cannot be sure of the outcome of my plans, I always try to look at all sides of the problem and exercise the best choice possible."

He turned his head to Naruto. "I am just as afraid of failure as you, Naruto. We share the same burden. However, I always try to make the best decisions and follow what I believe is right. If I make a mistake, I accept responsibility and try to correct it as quickly as possible. But just remember; just as there are people who will blame you, there are people who will forgive you."

Clapping his hand on Naruto's shoulder, Gaara looked him in the eye. "Your village voted you for this position, and Tsunade-san wouldn't have nominated you if she didn't think you were ready. So don't make your people's trust go to waste when you can't trust yourself. You obviously care for your village, and because of that, I know you will do fine. I have faith in that."

Satisfied with himself and his answer, Gaara walked away to greet the next wave of children.

Naruto, on the other hand, stayed in the same place he stopped in. Gaara's words resonated within him. He was right. Konoha obviously trusted him and he couldn't let it down by being wishy-washy. He had promised at his inauguration to lead them towards a bright and shining future and he never went back on his promises. That was his nindo, for Kami's sake, and it took Gaara's words to remind him of that.

Watching Gaara's figure as he bent down to converse with some of the children, Naruto thought of his own feelings. Though Gaara still conversed easily with his citizens, Naruto no longer felt jealousy towards his friend. Instead, he felt respect and the urge to do the same when he got back home. He'd been so focused on being perfect and not messing up that it felt like he had missed seeing the fruits of his labor. When was the last time he took a break and went into the village to talk with anyone and see how they were doing?

He was grateful for what Gaara told him; they were just the words that he needed to hear. And while Gaara was not normally known for such uplifting speeches, Naruto knew that Gaara was a friend he could count on to help in any type of situation and felt touched by the comfort of that thought.

Watching as Gaara continued to chat with the children, Naruto felt another comfort. Though Gaara rarely showed a change in emotion, Naruto could've sworn that he saw a warm smile on Gaara's face as he spoke. It wouldn't have been too strange of a sight given the circumstances, but it had been so brief that Naruto now questioned it as just his imagination. Still, smile or no smile, Naruto was just glad for what Gaara had told him.

And at his friend's words, a smile of his own graced Naruto's lips.

'_Thanks Gaara.' _

* * *

**A/N: So ends the first chapter. Updates will be slow as I try to finish my other stories, but I will swing by this pairing every now and again, so watch for those updates. Hope you liked it guys. MWAH!**


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